Tips for Turkey Day

Ah yes, it is that time again. Time for football, the insanity of relatives and of course, food. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and year after year, horror stories are told and retold regarding Thanksgiving food  and preparation. Many people seem to find that things always go wrong while cooking for Thanksgiving, but that does not necessarily have to be the case. So, what do you do if the turkey takes too long to cook, the meat is too dry, the gravy is lumpy…

Diners, Drive-ins and Disappointments

Kelly O’s is a new diner in the Strip, located at 100 24 Street, which opened this past July. The diner is owned by Kelly O’Connor, and it is her second restaurant. Her first restaurant opened eleven years ago and is located in the North Hills. About three years ago, the North Hills restaurant was reviewed by Guy Fieri (host of the popular Food Network television show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”) for its creative breakfasts and Polish halushki. However, one has to wonder if this…

Jamie Oliver Challenges Pittsburgh to Take on Food Revolution

World-renowned British chef Jamie Oliver visited Pittsburgh in October to discuss the city’s plan to embrace the Food Revolution. During a press conference held at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens’ edible rooftop garden, Oliver, along with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and other community leaders, outlined plans to help Pittsburghers eat and live healthier over the next year. The Food Revolution is described by Oliver as “a national movement to change the way America eats.” The program seeks to educate individuals and families about what is in…

Spice Island Tea House

This past Election Day, I decided to enhance my day off of school by paying a visit to my favorite restaurant, Spice Island Tea House. Located in Oakland on Atwood Street, past the intersection of Atwood and Sennott Streets, this restaurant has been serving up flavors of South East Asia for at least a decade. Spice Island Tea House does business from 11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. I have been to Spice Island Tea House many times, so I will review multiple…

Chomp: A Stop on Carson

Driving through the South Side one day, Chomp happened to lay eyes on an unfamiliar restaurant. Cambod-Ican Kitchen was its name, and after a bit of online research, Chomp discovered that the restaurant was not new; Chomp had just never noticed or heard of it before. Still, Cambodian fare sounded quite interesting and a few days later, Chomp, with Mother of Chomp (MOC) in tow, was back on the South Side, ready to sample some Cambodian food. As soon as the two began to approach…

Ramen Bar Delivers Authentic Japanese Fare

An Asian food trend is sweeping Pittsburgh. In Squirrel Hill, Thai, Chinese and Korean restaurants have been popping up over the past year. The newest addition to the Asian food scene is the Ramen Bar, located on Forbes Avenue. Okay, so technically, the Ramen Bar has only had its soft opening so far; it is currently only open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Despite its short hours and the newness of the restaurant, the Ramen Bar is run surprisingly smoothly and is rather…

Chomp: Sweet Southern Comfort

In a previous life, Chomp must have been a Southerner. How else can Chomp’s irrational love of all things barbeque be explained? But sadly, in Pittsburgh, there is not much barbeque to be had. In fact, Chomp has always been sorely disappointed by the ’Burgh when it comes to Southern cooking. That is, until Chomp happened upon Union Pig and Chicken. On December 1, Chomp, Mother of Chomp (MOC) and Friend of Mother of Chomp (FOMOC) were in Bakery Square checking out the I Made…

Holiday Eats

December is always a great time to get closer with your family, give some gifts and like any other holiday time, eat! Food brings people together no matter what holiday they celebrate, so here are some foods you can cook up to enhance your holiday meal. For those who celebrate Christmas, there are literally thousands of foods eaten in hundreds of countries specifically during the holiday! In the United States, it is common to see foods like roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, apple pie, Christmas ham…

India Garden

One Friday afternoon, I decided to take a brief recess from school and visit my favorite Indian restaurant in Pittsburgh, India Garden, located on Atwood Street. As per tradition at many Indian Restaurants, India Garden serves a lunch buffet. This buffet, priced very reasonably at $10.69, features many options. There are five parts of the buffet: sides, vegetarian, meat, bread and cold food. Customers may take as many trips to the buffet as they want. The sides section of the buffet offers three dishes: jeera…

Wholey Family Fish Tradition Continues

Luke Wholey’s Wild Alaskan Grille is a seafood restaurant in the Strip District located at 2106 Penn Avenue. Owned by the great grandson of the man who started Wholey’s Fish Market, Luke Wholey’s Wild Alaskan Grille carries on the tradition of great seafood at a very reasonable price. The restaurant’s decor is very fish-themed; there are two giant plastic fish on the wall (a sailfish and a swordfish), many paintings of fish and even goldfish in bowls on the tables. While all of these might…